Objective

To identify the content area for a questionnaire designed to measure vision-targeted health-related quality of life and to determine whether problems with vision-related functioning are qualitatively similar across different common eye diseases.

Design

Twenty-six condition-specific focus groups were conducted with 246 patients from 5 geographic regions to identify the content area for a questionnaire for use among persons with diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, macular degeneration, cytomegalovirus retinitis, and cataract.

A standard protocol was used to structure each focus group discussion.

Sessions were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded in preparation for a content analysis.

Settings

Participants

Eligible participants had to have 1 of the following eye conditions : age-related cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, primary open angle glaucoma, cytomegalovirus retinitis, or low vision from any cause.

All eligible persons were older than 21 years, spoke English, and had sufficient cognitive function to provide informed consent.

Results

Among the 246 participants, 2623 problems with vision-related functioning were mentioned.

The mean number of problems per person ranged from 13.5 for those with diabetic retinopathy to 7.9 for persons with glaucoma. (...)